Chapter 1527, slaves are not allowed to appear in the mainland of Ming Dynasty
Liu Jin looked at the slaves in the factory in front of him. They were all white slaves. They were all thin and thin. The hair on their heads had been shaved. Due to long-term lack of sunlight and malnutrition, their cheekbones were prominent.
, the eyes look very narrow when squinted.
He doesn't look tall and handsome like all European and American white people. He gives the impression that he is very thin, ugly, and dirty. He doesn't have any confidence at all. He looks timid and scared. When he sees Liu Jin and other Ming Dynasty people,
It's like a mouse seeing a cat and being very scared.
This scene reminded Liu Jin of the compatriots who were deceived to build the railway on the west coast of Golden Island in later generations. They had been living in a small and closed cabin on the ship, without seeing the sun and not having enough food. After arriving on the west coast,
All of them were thin and thin, with protruding cheekbones and narrowed eyes.
Later, it became a means used by Europeans to ridicule the Chinese, and even the so-called highly educated elites in their own countries deliberately catered to these European and American stereotypes of the Chinese and produced works that insulted the Chinese people.
"If you had a camera, you should record the scene before your eyes and mail it to future generations to see how the so-called squinting came about."
Liu Jin had a lot of thoughts and thought of many things at once.
This frightened Lu Daquan on the side to death. He knelt down on the ground and said with tears in his eyes: "Sir, I am really not guilty of anything illegal or criminal."
"I use all slaves, and they are slaves purchased with money. Slaves are the private property of the slave owners. I just let them work longer in the factory. In order to prevent them from escaping, I give them less food.
"
"You will never find a Ming Dynasty worker in my factory."
"And I also pay taxes according to regulations, and there is no tax evasion. If you don't believe me, you can check it at the tax office. I pay taxes every month, and I pay them in full."
"Also, moreover, I am the one who looks after these slaves. Naturally, I need to find some more fierce people to control these slaves, otherwise they will run away."
"Using slaves is not just something I do, many people do it."
"Slaves are cheap. A white slave only costs 40 to 50 taels of silver. As for the Kunlun slaves, they are even cheaper. A Kunlun slave can be purchased for just over 20 taels of silver."
"If we were from the Ming Dynasty, hiring a Ming Dynasty worker would cost at least dozens of taels of silver a year, and we would have to take holidays on holidays, and there are strict limits on working hours every day."
"There are not so many restrictions on buying slaves here. Not only is the price cheap, but the food can also be fooled casually. Just let them eat seven to seven times full. Sweet potatoes, corn, and bran are all available. They are very cheap, but give them to us.
Workers in the Ming Dynasty are not good enough, they will be scolded to death and stabbed in the spine."
"Slaves can also work late into the day, and just give them a little time to eat and sleep. It only takes about half a year to almost get back the money. It's very cost-effective."
"So it's not just me who is using them. There are many factory owners in the entire Jiangnan region who are using these slaves, especially Kunlun slaves. They are becoming more and more popular now. They are cheap, have good health and are not easy to get sick."
Neither Liu Jin nor Wang Shouren asked any questions, and Lu Daquan himself began to speak out everything.
While talking about returning it to Liu Jin, Wang Shouren used his fingers to calculate the financial accounts inside.
It’s too expensive to hire people from the Ming Dynasty, and they have to be given good food, drink, and housing, their daily working hours are limited, and they have to be given time off during holidays, holiday rewards, and so on.
After all these calculations, hiring a Ming worker would cost at least eighty taels of silver a year, which greatly increased their production costs.
But buying slaves to use as workers is different.
These slaves were bought out at one time. The price of Kunlun slaves was very low. You could buy one for more than twenty taels of silver, and more than twenty taels of silver was only enough to pay the workers of the Ming Dynasty for a few months.
Slaves were not allowed to be used as human beings, and had no time to rest. Speaking of holidays, slaves were basically working for the factory owners all day long and all year round, except for eating, drinking and sleeping.
This greatly reduces the cost of factory owners, and the products produced are extremely competitive.
"The price of a piece of cloth in this market is about 100 yuan. If Ming workers are used, even with the best machines, the cost can only be controlled at 70 yuan, and the profit of a piece of cloth is less than 30 yuan.
"
"But if slaves are used, the cost is only raw materials. As for labor costs, they can be reduced to a minimum. The slaves only eat some food, and food is not valuable now."
"If you calculate it, the cost of a piece of cloth is not even 40 cents, and the profit can reach 60 cents. This lower cost means the cloth will be easier to sell."
"Similarly, if I sell one piece of cloth for 100 Wen, I can earn the same amount as others selling two pieces of cloth. If there is a price war, even if I sell a piece of cloth for 70 Wen, I will still make a profit of 30 Wen, but they will not be able to do that.
"
"I'm not breaking the law, I'm just using slaves."
Lu Daquan calculated everything clearly. He was indeed a good capitalist in the new era. He even knew the cost.
Hearing his words, Liu Jin and Wang Shouren were dumbfounded, especially Wang Shouren. His Caiyun Textile Factory was the largest textile factory in the Ming Dynasty. Naturally, he knew the production costs very well.
"Using slaves, the cost of this piece of cloth is less than 40 cents?"
Wang Shouren asked in shock. Looking at the factory in front of him, the machines in it were all old models, which were sold several years ago. The machines in his own factory were all the latest advanced textile machines, with high production efficiency.
It is much higher than the machines in front of me.
However, even if Wang Shouren's textile factory has many advantages such as technical advantages and scale advantages, it is impossible to reduce the cost to 40 yuan. The cost of Wang's cloth has never been reduced to less than 50 yuan. Cotton, wool,
Where are the labor and machine depreciation?
"Yes, in the major factories of our Ming Dynasty, the most expensive thing is actually labor. Our Ming Dynasty is vast and sparsely populated, and a large number of people have migrated overseas, as well as to Liaodong, the Western Regions, Henan and other places."
"This has led to the continuous decline of the population in our homeland of Ming Dynasty. It is difficult to recruit workers. The wages of workers are naturally not cheap, and they have to be served like uncles. If one is unhappy, the other party will leave directly."
"The labor is the bulk of the cost. Even the cost of cotton shipped from Tianzhu and Africa is very low, but labor is expensive."
"With the reduction of labor force, the cost will naturally be very low. This is still the beginning, because if you buy slaves, the early stage will be taken into account. After a few years, the slaves will be used longer, and the calculated cost will be even lower.
"
"The cloth business is very easy now. The demand for cloth in Ming Dynasty is very strong. Now during the Chinese New Year, every household, old and young, needs some decent clothes."
"In addition, the overseas market is also very huge. A large amount of cloth is sold overseas every year. It is now the largest transaction in foreign trade. The demand for cloth in the market is very large, and there is no need to worry about selling any goods."
"So everyone likes to open this cloth factory, and the other is the cement factory. The demand for cement is very large. It is indispensable for building bridges, paving roads, building houses and tiles. Likewise, there is no need to worry about selling as much goods as there are. I know many cement factories
They all use slaves."
"We southerners don't know those Yankees. The Yankees like to use all kinds of weird machines. We like to use slaves. Anyway, as long as the cost is low and we can make money."
"Although those machines are highly efficient, they often break down and need to be repaired. Moreover, the machines are very expensive and require too much investment. They are not as practical as buying slaves."
Lu Daquan continued talking, almost telling all his business experience.
"You are truly a talent and a powerful capitalist."
After Liu Jin heard this, he couldn't help but look at him with admiration.
This Lu Daquan is a talented person, and the cost is very high.
"Where, where~"
Lu Daquan smiled awkwardly, not knowing whether Liu Jin's words meant to praise you or to demean you.
"Do you know that slavery is strictly prohibited in the Ming Dynasty, and it is even more forbidden to use slaves, and slaves are not allowed to appear in the Ming Dynasty?"
After thinking for a while, Liu Jin asked.
"Who doesn't know? They already knew it when they bought the slaves."
"But I just don't understand, why slaves can be used in Nanyang, Australia, and the Golden Continent, but why can't they be used in the Ming Dynasty?"
"Also why can female slaves be bought and sold here, but not male slaves?"
"Now, labor is expensive here in the Ming Dynasty and it is difficult to recruit workers. If we don't use slaves, it will be difficult for our factory to continue. By then, we might as well set up factories overseas."
Lu Daquan nodded and said.
"If you don't allow the use of slaves, there is a reason why you shouldn't use slaves."
"This land is the foundation of China, the cradle and source of our descendants of the Yan and Huang Dynasties. If a large number of slaves pour in, won't the land of China be filled with barbarians in a hundred years?"
"As for the female slaves, that is to enable our Chinese descendants to flourish. Many people buy slaves if they cannot find a wife, so that they can continue their incense."
"Besides, if a factory like yours uses slaves and the cost is very low, who will buy machines and research more advanced machines and equipment? In the end, they will still stay at the original technical level and there will be no progress.
?”
Liu Jin looked at Lu Daquan, then at these slaves, and replied.
Then he thought for a while and said, "Come here, thoroughly investigate the factories in Jiangnan and the large-scale use of slaves in the workshops, and eliminate all local slaves!"